
If you’re with us in the UK, you might be waiting patiently for Google’s continuous scrolling to show its face on your screens. If you’re elsewhere, or wondering what we’re on about, the US are part of the lucky few who can now scroll without (many) obstacles.
We get it – when Googling, most people don’t tend to click past the first page of results. And, we’re a lucky generation of users – search engines often give us what we’re looking for straight away. So, what happens when the pages themselves go extinct?
By scrapping pagination, Google is shining a light onto those brands and businesses that are hidden behind that first page. With improved impressions, those less-viewed sites will be blessed with more traffic, and higher rankings.
What is continuous scrolling?
In October 2021, Google brought out continuous scrolling on mobile, and last year, rolled it out on desktop – not for the UK, though, unfortunately. On mobile, scrolling is ‘infinite’ – meaning that search results go on for as long as you’re scrolling. On a desktop, however, you’ll get through around 6 pages of SERPs before needing to hit “See more.”
Click, click, boom
Continuous scrolling enables the user to enjoy a social-media-inspired browsing experience. But, by mirroring an Instagram feed, for example, when it’s time-consuming to get to the end, and users tend to scroll for the point of scrolling, Google might have inadvertently introduced a feature that reduces the CTR for first-page results.
65% of searches end with the user not clicking a link at all. Meta descriptions tend to hold all the information people are looking for (like the ones we write!), so continuous scrolling, especially with more improved features and Google ads, might end up with more zero-click searches.
The main takeaway from continuous scrolling is that, either way, people will be clicking less. We’re expecting that it means better traffic for all, especially those stuck on second pages – and, if the CTR falls, hopefully websites’ metadata will improve.
Luckily for you, that’s something Puddle can help with!
Want to improve your site’s rankings? Give us an email at [email protected]. We’ll get you on that coveted first page – or, at least, the start of the scroll.